renata and ben

Truth: I’m terrified of chair lifts. Some time in the Swiss Alps took the edge off my white-knuckled approach to them for sure, but I’m just always waiting to hear the snap of a bolt and see the rocky terrain racing towards me, cameras undoubtedly hitting me in the head at some point pre- or post-impact, further guaranteeing my demise. I just didn’t realize assistant Erin was even worse than me. It made it easier because I masked my fear by teasing her. This particular lift took us up to the top of Mount Horace Greeley in Michigan’s Keweenaw County – near the tip of the most northern part of the Upper Peninsula on a fine autumn afternoon. The mountain sits at a reasonable 1,560 ft and has a panoramic view of the terrain of the Keweenaw. This was the site of the ceremony, and off in the distance, the abandoned Calumet Air Force Station. This was a cold war era radar station, it’s build prompted by the Koran war. Closed in 1988, it sits as an asbestos backdrop for an episode of The Walking Dead – which made it a perfect spot to take our bride and groom. As they are both electrical engineers, we paused briefly as they examined the high-voltage sub-station where we hid the cars before we hit the lakeshore, and a waterfall on our way back to the site. Host for the reception (and provider of the lift) was Mount Bohemia, a ski resort with a good 900 vertical feet largely though the trees which equals double and black diamond runs. I’m a nordic skier so nooooo thank you. If the chair lift didn’t kill me first, a tree would very quickly. But we survived, our beautiful bride and groom survived, and I’ll probably make it back to the yurt compound this winter. Not to ski though – I understand there’s whiskey, and a hot-tub.